Insect fossil? Grasshopper, mantis, or....?

[Rock_head]

Found amongst several fossils including huge stramatolites, petrified wood, etc...

[Fossildude19]

Looks like a rock with mineral veins. Not a fossil.

[Rockwood]

Insect fossils are known in some places. They aren't preserved in this way, however. 

[FossilDAWG]

I agree with @Fossildude19.  However at first look I was fooled into thinking it was a ghost crab claw.

 

Don

[Rock_head]

Thanks all for the comments, if I knew I wouldn't ask. So now I will graciously bow out... or wouldn't it be a great time to stir up a little group chatter. I think it is a mantis,if you stare long enough his wing will flutter. Might even be a family of them. Thanks again, I will see if I can find another rock to post.

[Ludwigia]

It may look like a mantis to you (see pareidolia), and I can understand why you think it is one, but I agree with my colleagues here that this is rather a rock with mineral inclusions, although there is a remote possibility that some of the inclusions may be fossiliferous. I would suggest you study the first paragraph in this link, which explains in more detail why insect fossils are so rare. If you still aren't convinced, then take it to your nearest Natural History Museum or University geology department for analysis. You would need to give them a more precise location in order for them to be able to determine the stratigraphy of the find.

[Rock_head]

I was just being comical, I do love  finding pieces to stir up conversations.  I ran across a creek bed loaded with fossils, there are several big stramatolites as well as some very nice pieces of petrified wood.

 

[Ludwigia]

7 hours ago, Rock_head said:

I was just being comical